Norwegain Spirit Quebec to Boston

You’d think we would learn, when 2000 people show up to get on a ship the process is slow and tedious, but not so. We like most of the other passengers were at the checkout tent on the dock to board the Norwegian Spirit at 12:00 noon even though the ship didn’t depart until 8:00 PM, after all they are serving lunch, and we don’t want to miss that. So we endured a one and a half hour process of checking in and making our way through security.

Once on board we made ourselves at home having been on the Spirit last January for a Western Caribbean cruise out of New Orleans. Our first full day was dedicated to sailing up the Saguenay Fjord, a glacial cut formation resulting in steep cliffs that now serve to allow the waters of the Atlantic Ocean ant the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to flow 330 miles into northern Canada. The fall foliage provides a colorful palate to appreciate nature’s transitional beauty. Although the air tempetures is in the mid sixties and the ships movement generates a cool wind warm sunning spots were in abundance. A bonus of a spotting of Beluga Whales in the late afternoon provided a delightful finish to a very relaxing day. It was nice to reduce the pace and kick back; I also started the third book of the Stieg Larsson trilogy, The Girl that Kicked a Hornets Nest.

Monday we dock in Sept-Iles (Seven Islands) a small fishing town of 25,000 that has transformed into a center for iron ore and aluminum manufacturing and is making a valiant effort to become a cruise ship stop. There really isn’t much to see or do in Sept-Iles; the best description I heard was any small Mid-western town with a McDonalds, KFC and Wall Mart. There is a small museum tracing the history of the area and the Montagnais Innu people back to 1535. The big plus was the city had set up a huge reception tent just off the ship where they had booths showing their crafts, handing our crackers with local shrimp, but most important free internet service; connecting aboard the ship can run from $.40 to $.75 per minute depending on the plan that you purchase.

Tuesday we docked in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, population of 32,000, a pictures thriving town; a perfect place to live if you somehow could avoid the winters. The houses and buildings around the main streets are reminiscent of our New England, US dating back to the 16th and early 17th century. We walked into town and immediately went to a restaurant recommended by Dawn, one of the ports ship inspectors that I engaged while he was doing his inspection, as the best “lobster experience” in Charlottetown. At the corner of Prince and Water streets we found Water Prince – “Seafood Restaurant and Lobster Pond” Four lobsters ordered that came with a pound of muscles and potato salad, I accompanied my 2lber with a pint of Sir John A’s Honey Wheat Ale. It turned out to be the meal of the trip, so far. The restaurant was small and friendly and our server gave us a heads up on Charlottetown’s best ice cream served at Cow’s at the corner of Queen and Grafton Street sharing a restroom with Subway, I actually had two pints with my 2 pound lobster. The weather was warm but not hot so a leisurely stroll back to the ship and we said goodbye at 5:30 PM. Thus far an outstanding feature of this out of the way cruise itinerary is the friendliness of the people at the ports that we have visited, they appreciated us coming to visit them, at Sept-Iles there were at least 200 people on the pier waving us “goodbye” as we left their little town, you won’t find that anywhere else.
Wednesday is a “Sea Day”, we’ve all formed some habits; being early risers Ron, Nita and I usually meet in the Rallies Restaurant for early coffee then Nita and I go to a 7:30 Exercise Class joined by Ron at 8:00 for a half hour on the machines in the gym before breakfast. As with all cruises food is at a plenty and anything that you want is available, you don’t go hungry on cruises. At sea days gives me time to catch-up with the stock market movements and possibly place a trade that can pay for the vacation, natural gas is up 9 cents and that just might do it for this vacation. We spend the balance of the time reading, napping, writing, and eating, it’s not a bad life but it can’t go on to long.

Thursday we dock in Halifax, Nova Scotia; we’ve been here before, two years ago on our trans-Atlantic crossing from Dover England to NYC. Halifax is a city that appears to have been hit hard by the recession, there are many empty store fronts but in this case I get the idea that the city just over built for it’s tourist trade during good times and now, like in most places it’s survival of the fittest. One of the fittest are the Murphy’s, they own the large restaurant on the pier, the Theodore Tug Boat, the whale watching and tall ship concession and any number of store fronts. Having had a lobster lunch two days ago in Charlottetown we opted for Lobster Wraps, Lobster Quesada, fish chowder and crab cakes. Avie went all out and had a slice of “five berry pie”. We left Murphy’s confident that they will be here if and when we revisit Halifax. We’d seen the Maritime Museum and the Titanic Exhibition on our last visit, so I found the history of the Arcadian people of Halifax interesting.

The Arcadians were the French people living in Halifax in the mid 1700’s, which was a British colony. They wanted French rule and were thus not welcome in Halifax. The British deposed them to Saint George Island, a small island about a mile out in Halifax harbor. In 1762 the British put these 600 Arcadians on a ship and attempted to dump them in Boston but the people of Boston turned then away, so the were put back on Saint George Inland, where the living conditions were deplorable. In 1764 the British scattered the families across Nova Scotia resulting in many of the families, in an effort to stay together, making a pilgrimage to Louisiana where they established a major part of today’s Louisiana culture. Thus French is not spoken in Halifax as it is in Montreal and Quebec.

Friday and our last stop is Portland Maine, what a beautiful entrance into the harbor, magnificent homes line the shore as we approach the downtown port that serviced what is now Old Portland back in the early 1700’s. The brick line streets are all the remain of that old city as most of the city burnt on July 4 1866 resulting from a fireworks celebration that went wrong leaving 10,000 people homeless. The new Old Town was rebuilt in brick with a Victorian appearance. We spent our day walking the city, taking in what I saw as a free spirit lifestyle and eating one more lobster before we leave this colorful part of North America.

Lunch, lobster was enjoyed at DiMillo’s Floating Restaurant a build around an old steel hulled ship right on the water. The atmosphere was pure Maine, the service was great and the lobster was second only to the one we had in Charlottetown two days earlier. Bad habit being hard to brake, we took a short walk back into old town and found Beals Ice Cream for a double dip desert. Nita and I both enjoy the feel of Maine and I feel sure that we will revisit Portland in the future.

The cruise has been a welcome respite in our New England Adventure and I will plan future trips with a similar itinerary, tomorrow we will dock in Boston get back on the train and head to New York City.

Off on the Norwegian Spirit to sail the Western Caribbean

We’ve been home to long! Nita and I and Ron and Avie are headed to New Orleans to catch the Norwegian Spirit to sail the Western Caribbean.

Our first scheduled stop was in Hattiesburg at the Purple Patriot, a 5 star white table cloth black napkin restaurant that serves an outstanding lunch at reasonable prices. I believe this is our third stop here. If you ever find yourself in Hattiesburg MS at lunch time it’s a must. We arrived in New Orleans about 2:30 Friday afternoon and was joined by George Best one of Ron’s high school buddies.

We spent an hour and a half in the World War II museum, it’s a three hour museum but it closed at 5:00pm so our visit had to be rushed. I learned more about WWII in our hour and a half then I did in my whole 5th grade history class, but them my mind was much more receptive at age 65 then at age 10. It helped to put into perspective some of the information that I had gathered in Thailand about their war with Japan prior to the invasion of Pearl Harbor.

For dinner at the Quarter View restaurant on Clearview we were joined by Sidney and Diane Cotlar; Sidney was another junior high friend of Ron’s. Both had effervescent personalities and openly shared their stories of pre-K and after-K, which I discovered is a part of all New Orleanians lives. The conversation was spirited and the trout stuffed with crab meat dressing and smothered in a Cajun sauce was a must have again we come back to New Orleans and the char-grilled oysters were something that I will have anytime they are available. These people just keep eating; we finished our evening at the Café De Monde for beignets and coffee.

Saturday morning we were off to Algiers to have brunch with Ron’s Cousin Sylvia Evensky and her daughter Barbee and her children Andrew and Carle. Again more food good conversation and another Katrina story, these are strong people.

The balance of the day was consumed with a guided tour of New Orleans by Ron giving us a view of the city through the eyes of a high school boy. We stopped by the house that Fran and Lee lived in (Ron’s sister and brother-in-law) in the Garden District, then went down to the French Quarter where we were entertained by a group of very talented acrobatic street performers.

Our day was topped off with a delightful evening with Mike and Brenda Moffitt. Brenda and Fran have been best friends since kindergarten. They took us to the Southern Yacht Club for dinner and an insight into another part of New Orleans culture as well as another totally different Katrina story.

This is the weekend of the NFC championship and the New Orleans Saint are playing the Minnesota Vikings here in New Orleans later today. Nita and I lived in Minneapolis for ten years and have continued to follow the Vikings, but after spending these two days with some beautiful people of New Orleans I can say with on reservations that the Saints deserve to win as a payoff for what the have endured and for the mess they have clawed their way out of; I’ll hold my wishes for the Super Bowl until I see what happens with the Colts and Jets. Nita and I grew up in Indianapolis.